Chapter 12 – Game On, Part Two
Despite not wanting to give the entering figure the satisfaction of knowing he intimidated them, both Sera and John stepped back from Fitzgerald, who strode into their cell, cattle prod as always in hand.
John tried to push thoughts of Sam and Dean to the back of his mind. He was worried, sure, but at least Sera had given him peace of mind that they were alive. He wished he knew more, could warn them somehow. On the one hand, part of him was happy to have them close by. But on the other, he highly doubted they'd just managed to break into the compound on their own, though skilled as they are. They were likely being tested by Victor as well, and that infuriated John. It was bad enough that he had become a human lab rat. It enraged him to no end to think his sons had become the same.
But if he could get away, find them, that could give them the family the upper hand they needed to escape, regroup, and return to shut this hellhole down for good. If he knew his boys, they'd already connected with Bobby or Joshua and the cavalry would be on the way to help. It would just be a matter of timing.
There was one more positive aspect to seeing Fitzgerald standing before him: at least the bastard wasn't out hunting the boys.
Two more men came in behind Fitzgerald who John recognized as other guards. Outnumbered, it was once again time to wait and look for the opportunity to take them out. John held his ground, fists clenched as Fitzgerald made his way over to Sera. He could see her stiffen but hold her ground as well, showing no fear. Good for her.
"Little escape plan didn't work, I see," he said to her, though oddly without the taunting smirk and condescending tone John had come to expect.
"Get credit for trying though, don't I?" Sera responded.
"A+ as always, Doc," he said with a smile.
Suddenly Sera's expression changed as something flashed in Fitzgerald's eyes. Before she could say anything, Fitzgerald put a finger to his lips and gave a quick nod to the guard to his left. The man, who stood beneath the corner camera, took out a small remote and pointed it at the camera. A slight click could be heard and the guard on the right began to remove the duffel he had on his shoulder.
"It's okay, we can talk freely now," Fitzgerald said as he went for the duffel and began unloading several guns, knives and other remotes.
"Clive?" Sera asked incredulously. "I can't believe it. How did you…"
"I'll fill you in later. Right now we gotta move. Winchester, right?" he said to John.
Seeing John's dumfoundedness, Sera filled him in. "This is Clive. Shapeshifter, in case you haven't guessed."
Clive held out his hand to shake John's. Now this is getting weird, John thought to himself as he shook the shifter's – who still wore Fitzgerald's face – hand.
"Weird, right? Bet you never thought you'd be on the same side as one of my kind. The short of it is, when I heard about your little albeit temporary break out, figured the time had come to make our move. And I wasn't about to leave you behind," he said to Sera. "Doc here has patched me up more times than I can count. I owe her. What the hell were you thinking trying to break out on your own? You know better."
"Uh, first of all I had no idea you and others were in the works trying to do the same thing and second I had him," Sera motioned to John.
"Fair enough. Guess I should have tried to contact you telepathically, but I wasn't sure how well your mojo was working."
"It's not, for the most part," Sera admitted.
"Where's the real Fitzgerald and these other guards?" John asked, taking a couple of the guns and knives and securing them to his person.
"The guards are taken care of," Clive responded. "As for Fitzgerald, we tried to get to him but he's off looking for a couple of intruders. I think you know who," he directed at John.
"Do you know where they are?"
"Don't know about your youngest, but your oldest is in a heap of trouble. I suggest you get to him while Sera and I go after Victor."
"I'm not going to be much help to you with the binding spell still in place," Sera said.
"Then I guess we'll just have to unbind you," Clive said with a wink.
"How many others are with us," John asked.
"Six," Clive answered. "Us three plus Pacer, Donovan and Mook."
"A skinwalker, a vampire and a ghoul. Sounds like the beginning of a bad joke," Sera said with a chuckle. "How'd you get Mook to join?"
"Promised him a full run of the 'buffet' when we win," Clive said with a chuckle of his own.
"Just make sure it's not us," John said practically.
"So what's the plan?" Sera asked.
"Well, we've got short-range control of the cameras in the immediate vicinity. That'll help get us to Erksine. Once we have that, we'll have complete surveillance control."
"Think Howie will comply?"
"Once I threaten to make him Mook's appetizer, I'm sure he'll cooperate just fine."
Everyone cocked their guns and set out.
SNSNSN
Fitzgerald was thoroughly pissed. He knew the Winchesters had a reputation for being excellent hunters but he never thought any of them would get an upper hand, especially in his own back yard. The father had proved predictable, which led to the ease of his recapture. The older kid was right where the boss wanted him. But the younger kid had somehow slipped off the radar. After his mad leap into the river – Fitz had to give the kid props for that – he'd expected to pick him back up but so far nothing. He knew the brat wouldn't just bail on his family – wasn't their way. So he had to be here somewhere. But where…
Fitz had Erksine buff up all internal sensors, cameras and overall surveillance but the guy was a tool and Fitz didn't want to rely solely on the oft-unreliable technology – several cameras had temporarily blinked out recently. So Fitz set out on his own hunt for the kid. He actually looked forward to the encounter. He hadn't had a good sparring in a while and he was curious about the kind of fighter the great John Winchester had molded his son into. Maybe he'd test out the kid's moves, before inevitably knocking him out, of course.
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Feeling like he'd just finished a battle-readying montage from a Schwarzenegger film, Sam debated his next move. Armed to the hilt, he could probably work his way through the corridors, but certainly not without drawing massive attention to himself. Deciding that his airshaft had been kind in keeping his presence known (as far as he hoped, anyway), he decided to make his way through them. It seemed to give him access to a good deal of the compound and Sam figured the next best thing was to find Dean, or his father, or both.
Making sure his body armory was secure – the swords he'd strapped to his back were cumbersome but overall deemed necessary – he pulled himself back into the vent and started out again.
SNSNSN
Fitz stopped outside of WC3 (Weapons Cell 3) after he thought he heard something inside. Cocking his tranq rifle, he punched in the code, slowly turned the knob, then kicked the door open forcefully, rifle at the ready.
What greeted him was a very shocked technician who dropped his clipboard and pen and shot his arms up into the air with a startled scream. "Don't shoot! Please! I'm not armed!"
"What are you doing in here?" Fitz shouted, annoyed.
"In…invent..t…t..tory?" the tech squeaked out.
Fitz lowered his rifle. "Well get to it then," he snapped, closing the door and trying to block out the fact that the kid inside had just peed himself.
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The first thing Dean realized when he regained consciousness was that it was dark. Next, he was lying on his back on the ground. Third, he hurt. Not the kind of hurt that meant anything was broken, just the kind that felt like he'd taken a ride in a clothes dryer. He thought back to how he'd reached his current position and it all came back to him: the wolves, Sam's leap off the cliff, the damn rabbit hole in the middle of nowhere. He wasn't sure how far he'd fallen, just that it hadn't been a straight drop. He'd kind of fallen straight, then rolled down through a long, sloped tunnel and finally dropped out for another medium fall to the ground. He sat up slowly and checked for his weapons. Unfortunately during his little trip he'd managed to lose his gun, but his ankle knife was still in place.
He stood and tried to see if there was any kind of light that could help indicate the size of the room he was in. It was quiet except for a steady hum, like a generator, and occasional clanking, like metal pipes. And that sound was echoing, which meant the room was fairly large and somewhat empty. Unsure of whether anyone knew he was here, he listened for some other sound and waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness.
He didn't have to wait long as the room was suddenly flooded with light which temporarily blinded him. Shielding his eyes with his arm, he slowly let them adjust and when he could finally see again, he took in his surroundings.
Crap.
SNSNSN
Clive, Sera, John and the two guards, who John learned were Pete and Bolster, also shifters, made there way to WC9, where Clive quickly punched in the code and let them into the armory. Each began to arm up.
"How did you manage to get the code?" Sera asked.
"Shapeshifters often acquire the memories and knowledge of the people they shift into," John answered before Clive.
"Very good, Winchester. Unfortunately there's a hell of a lot in here I wish I didn't have," Clive said, tapping his head. "Fitzy is one sadistic sonofabitch and seriously needs to get laid real bad."
"Clive!" Sera said with a grimace.
"What?" Clive asked with a shrug.
"Listen, I've got to find my boys. You said Dean is in trouble. What did you mean?"
"I overheard that he's become the highlighted attraction for the day. Managed to fall into the main arena, so Victor has decided to take advantage of the situation. Honestly speaking, how good is your boy?"
"Why?"
"Cause with what he's going up against, he'd better be better than you."
John did not like the sound of that. "How do I get to the main arena?"
"Bolster will show you," Clive said, handing one of the remotes to the shifter, along with what looked like a pager. "Give us a few minutes to get control of the surveillance chamber, then I'll signal you when it's okay to move."
"I don't have that kind of time," John said adamantly.
"Make time!" Clive said. "You'll be no good to your boy if you get caught and I guarantee you you won't get another opp for escape, you hear me? Victor's amusement and patience only go so far. So you wait for my signal, you got me?"
John nodded.
"Let's go."
Bolster closed the door behind Clive, Sera and Pete and John continued gathering up arms.
SNSNSN
"Welcome, Dean Winchester. I've been greatly looking forward to meeting you."
Dean looked up to locate the origin of the thundering voice. The chamber he was in was massive, with walls made of solid iron about a third of the way up and topped off with glass rooms, like premiere boxes at a sports arena. And within those sat people, lots of people, all staring down at him.
"Boy, if I had a nickel for every time I heard that," Dean answered, trying to cover up his unease with bravado.
"I've enjoyed watching your father in combat but you have quite a reputation yourself, one that is beginning to rival his, and I anticipate seeing your skills first hand."
"So that's how you get your rocks off, huh? Well, I guess at your age not much else is gonna do the trick, though there is this little thing called Viagra," Dean shot back. "So what's it gonna be, huh? I mean you got your whole freak show collection to choose from, right?" Dean stalled, looking around to see if the bastard would provide him with any kind of weapon.
"Oh, I have something very special in mind for you, Mr. Winchester."
Dean's bravado suddenly melted away as a very loud, booming sound came from his right. What had appeared like a wall was actually a door. A very large door. And it was slowly and menacingly opening.
Crap frickin double crap.
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